141-145

*Chapter 141: The Mourning Son's Concern*

"This guy..." Kurenai Yuhi was speechless as she watched the spot where Aizen disappeared.

Even though she knew Aizen wouldn’t fatally harm the people of Konoha, she never expected him to create such a huge commotion.

As soon as the barrier completely disappeared, she quickly led a group of medical ninjas inside.

The moment Aizen left, everyone, including Hiruzen Sarutobi, sighed in relief.

The lower-ranked ninjas, on the other hand, seemed to have all their strength drained. They collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

Only Naruto stood in place, his eyes filled with loneliness and sorrow.

At that moment, he had never felt so much hatred for his own weakness.

He wondered if, had he become strong enough, big brother Aizen wouldn’t have left.

Kakashi, holding his injured right arm, looked at Naruto and sighed, feeling a mix of sorrow and pity. “Today’s events must have been a big blow to Naruto.”

"We... we’re saved." Kankuro gasped in relief, his voice trembling.

"This is no place to stay. Let’s leave for now and talk later," Temari nodded, helping Gaara as they left.

Just then, Kurenai Yuhi arrived with a group of medical ninjas.

"Lord Hokage," Kurenai bowed respectfully to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Kurenai, we owe you for protecting everyone," Hiruzen looked at her with a complicated expression.

Who would have thought that today, the so-called "strongest Hokage in history," not only lost face in front of Konoha’s ninjas but now needed a woman’s help to stay alive?

"Lord Hokage, you’re too kind. It’s my fault for failing to guide Aizen properly, which led to today’s situation," Kurenai took the blame on herself.

Hearing this, Hiruzen knew it was time to show his magnanimity as the "strongest Hokage." He sighed, “This isn’t your fault; it’s my failure as Hokage. Now, go and tend to the injured.”

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Kurenai respectfully replied, leading the medical ninjas to place Might Guy, Hayate Gekkō, and others on stretchers.

"I just checked; Guy and Hayate didn’t suffer fatal injuries. Luckily, their lives are safe," Kurenai said as she approached Kakashi. "How are you feeling?"

Kakashi sighed, "Well, not great, but it seems my wrist is dislocated, and the bone is probably fractured."

"Speaking of which, your student is really something. His genjutsu, ninjutsu, and even taijutsu are unbelievably strong. I’ve never seen anyone like him. Thankfully, you showed up in time."

He squinted as he scanned the surroundings, his expression growing serious, "Otherwise, things could’ve taken an unpredictable turn."

Kurenai nodded slightly and helped reset Kakashi’s hand, bandaging it quickly. "Your hand is set. Head to the hospital for some recovery time later. You should be fine."

After that, she turned and left.

Sakura Haruno, watching Kurenai leave, glanced at Naruto with a complicated look and asked Kakashi curiously, "Kakashi-sensei, why did Fujiwara Aizen leave as soon as he saw Kurenai-sensei? Is she stronger than him? Was he afraid of her?"

Hearing this, the others around also perked up, listening closely.

"No, it’s not that," Kakashi shook his head and sighed, "It’s just that Fujiwara Aizen used to be her student."

Meanwhile, Aizen walked out of Konoha’s gates with confidence, heading to the rendezvous point with Zabuza and Pakura. Kisame, who had been waiting outside the village, was already there.

"Lord Aizen, are you alright?" Pakura immediately stepped forward when she saw him.

"I’m fine, just playing around with the Konoha ninjas a bit," Aizen shook his head.

Kisame approached with a flattering smile, "As expected of Lord Aizen! To face off against the upper ranks of ‘the strongest village in the Shinobi World’ and still come and go as you please."

"It’s just the former strongest village. Nowadays, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō have run it into the ground. To be honest, there aren’t many ninjas left in Konoha worth mentioning," Aizen shrugged.

"How did those Konoha ninjas fare?" Uchiha Itachi hesitated for a moment before asking.

"How surprising!" Aizen gave Itachi a playful look, his face breaking into a mischievous smile. "Even someone who could kill his own parents without hesitation now shows concern for ninjas from the same village."

"Don’t worry, I didn’t kill anyone. I have no grudge against them."

"I was worried Might Guy might use that dangerous taijutsu of his, so I slashed his waist, knocking him out."

"Hayate Gekkō tried to ambush me in secret, so I cut him across the back."

"Kakashi kept using his Sharingan from behind to observe my moves and tried to use the Lightning Blade to pierce my heart from behind. I snapped his wrist."

"As for Hiruzen’s crippled son, to be honest, he’s so weak that I’m questioning if his ‘elite jōnin’ title was something his Hokage father gave him. I used a simple genjutsu to take him down, then transformed him into my likeness and left him with Ibiki Morino. I have to give it to Konoha’s head of interrogation—he summoned a bizarre torture chamber to interrogate me."

"Sarutobi Asuma was tortured in there for quite a while. It was quite the sight."

Hearing this, Zabuza finally sighed in relief and explained, "That’s Morino Ibiki’s summoning technique, the Torture Chamber."

"It can summon chains to bind the enemy and drag them into an alternate dimension filled with torture devices."

"The caster tortures the enemy using chakra, but they also experience the same pain as the enemy."

Aizen feigned realization, "No wonder that old guy passed out after the summoning was undone."

"Lord Aizen, I’ve already taken care of the body of that Rain ninja. Konoha’s shinobi will discover it soon, so don’t worry about exposing our base. What’s the plan now?" Kisame asked hesitantly.

Aizen replied, "The plan to destroy Konoha will happen during the final stage of the Chūnin Exams. For now, you and Zabuza should head to a hot spring town."

"Uh..." Kisame was confused, "Lord Aizen, may I ask why we’re going to a hot spring town?"

"Of course, to wait. There’s still a month until the finals. What, do you want to sit here doing nothing until then?" Aizen rolled his eyes at him.

*Chapter 142: Karin’s Whereabouts*

After parting ways with Kisame and Sasuke, Aizen and Pakura disguised themselves before returning to Konoha, where they found a hot spring inn to settle in.

Just as they got comfortable, a flood of information suddenly entered Aizen’s mind. It was from the shadow clone he had sent to rescue Karin.

The shadow clone had saved Karin from the jaws of a large bear before Sasuke could get to her. Then, under the pretense of valuing her talents, he proposed that she become his disciple and, eventually, his woman.

Seeing an opportunity to escape Kusagakure (the Village Hidden in the Grass), Karin readily agreed—especially after seeing Aizen’s appearance, as she was quite fond of attractive men. She practically wanted to cling to him.

However, she expressed concerns about her mother and asked Aizen for help rescuing her.

Aizen happily agreed, though he was aware that by this point, her mother was likely already drained by the Kusagakure villagers.

Yet, due to Aizen returning to Kusagakure earlier than in the original story, Karin’s mother was still barely alive.

On Karin’s desperate pleas, Aizen gave her a Senzu Bean.

This not only restored her mother’s depleted chakra but also healed her injuries and erased the bite marks on her body. She was transformed into a beautiful woman.

The shadow clone wasn’t too concerned about this development. After fighting their way out of Kusagakure with the two women, they spent a few days traveling to Tanzaku Town, where Aizen had purchased a mansion for Tsunade before his departure.

“Aizen!” As they arrived at the mansion, a young girl named Chika, who had been playing with the pig, Ton-Ton, rushed toward him excitedly.

However, the shadow clone held her back by her forehead, stopping her from getting too close.

Chika blinked in confusion, then noticed Karin and her mother behind the shadow clone, and her eyes filled with tears.

The shadow clone sighed, “Chika, I’m just your dad’s shadow clone. He’s told you before—girls must behave properly. Except for your father and brothers, you shouldn’t have physical contact with any man. These two are members of the Uzumaki clan that your father rescued.”

“Waaah… Mommy, Daddy brought back some strange woman… and she has a daughter!” Chika burst into tears before the clone could even finish, running inside the house sobbing.

“Uh… did she misunderstand something?” the shadow clone muttered, scratching his head.

At that moment, Shizune returned from shopping. “Lord Aizen… and these two are?” she asked.

“Oh, this is Uzumaki Karin and her mother. They’re survivors of the Uzumaki clan, relatives of Tsunade. I rescued them from Kusagakure,” the shadow clone explained, detailing what had happened.

After hearing the story, Shizune clenched her fists in fury. “Those Kusagakure scumbags!”

The shadow clone nodded. “That’s why I thought it would be best to have them stay here with you. When you return to Konoha, take them with you. Karin will make an excellent disciple for Tsunade, given her Uzumaki bloodline.”

“Your real body?” Shizune blinked in surprise.

“As you can see, I’m just a shadow clone for now,” the clone smiled. Then, he looked toward Karin. “Karin, this is Shizune, your senior sister. Go ahead and greet her.”

Karin, who was still a shy girl unlike her future self from Shippuden, nervously stepped out from behind her mother. Her face flushed red as she gave a small bow and said, “Hello, Sister Shizune.”

“What a sweet and adorable little sister,” Shizune smiled warmly, patting Karin’s head.

Karin initially flinched, like a startled rabbit, squeezing her eyes shut. But feeling the warmth of Shizune’s hand, she gradually relaxed.

She glanced at her mother, then at the shadow clone, and finally at Shizune, who smiled kindly at her. A sense of calm washed over her.

But that calm didn’t last long.

Because Tsunade suddenly appeared.

“Aizen, you idiot! Who told you it was okay to bring strange women home? And how dare you make my daughter cry!” Tsunade’s voice roared through the house as she smashed through the roof and landed with a powerful kick in the yard.

The shadow clone had no choice but to endure the attack, determined to protect the expensive house.

The force was so great that the clone dissipated.

When Aizen received the memories of what had happened, he broke into a cold sweat. Tsunade was truly something else.

He had only sent a shadow clone with two ordinary women, yet Tsunade had flown into a rage.

If she ever found out that, besides her, he was also involved with Mikoto, Uchiha Izumi, Kurenai, and the Mizukage—who wanted to eat him alive—and that Mikoto had even given him a daughter just a few months younger than Chika… well, it would be absolute chaos.

“Lord Aizen, the mixed bath is ready,” Pakura’s voice called from outside the room.

“Oh, coming!” Aizen responded, putting on his robe and heading out.

Meanwhile, in a large building somewhere in Konoha...

Dosu knelt before Orochimaru, recounting what he had seen during the conflict between Aizen and Konoha.

After listening, Orochimaru licked his lips with his long, snake-like tongue, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

“Heh... it seems Aizen knows quite a bit about the old man’s dirty secrets. No wonder he’s targeting him so specifically. But what’s even more interesting is that you survived because of Kurenai,” Orochimaru mused.

“It seems Aizen hasn’t completely severed all his ties. I expected you all to die there, including the old man.”

Dosu broke out in a cold sweat and quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet Orochimaru’s gaze. “Yes, Lord Orochimaru,” he replied nervously.

“Good work. You may go now,” Orochimaru said.

Tos nodded slightly, using his cane to rise as he prepared to leave.

But before he could perform his teleportation technique, Orochimaru’s smile grew even more twisted, and with a grin, he made a hand sign.

Dosu froze in place as his cane clattered to the ground, paralyzed by Orochimaru’s technique.

“L-Lord Orochimaru, what are you doing?” Tos stammered, sweating profusely.

“You’re no longer of use to me. Since Sakon is dead, you’ll be joining Kin as a sacrifice for the Edo Tensei,” Orochimaru sneered.

*Chapter 143: Orochimaru Discusses Aizen*

"Summoning Jutsu—Edo Tensei!"

With a rapid sequence of hand signs, Orochimaru clasped his hands together, and a strange pattern appeared on the ground, enveloping Dosu. Dust and dirt began gathering around Dosu at a visible speed.

"Wait, Lord Orochimaru... Ah!" Dosu, frozen in place, stammered in fear. As the dust rose above his head, he let out a final scream before losing all signs of life, transforming entirely into the body of the First Hokage.

At that moment, Kabuto, Orochimaru’s right-hand man, arrived and observed the summoned First Hokage. Smiling, he remarked, "So this is the legendary God of Shinobi, the First Hokage? It seems Dosu has served as the sacrifice."

Orochimaru, glancing briefly at Kabuto, continued performing hand signs to seal the reanimated First Hokage back into a coffin. In a calm tone, he asked, "What about the information I had you gather?"

Kabuto respectfully replied, "As you predicted, the other two Akatsuki members have already left Konoha, and after defeating Kakashi, Might Guy, and several other Konoha Jonin, Fujiwara Aizen left the village in a grand manner."

"They’ve all left the village now, and they even left behind three bodies of Rain Village ninjas outside Konoha, likely to avoid drawing attention to the connection between Akatsuki and the Rain Village."

"But their current whereabouts are unknown. Tracking a group composed entirely of S-rank rogue ninjas is essentially a death wish."

"However, this fight between Fujiwara Aizen and Konoha has revealed something to me."

Hearing this, Orochimaru made a sound of interest. "Oh? Tell me more."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Konoha is truly weak."

"It’s hard to believe that the once-greatest village in the ninja world has, as Fujiwara Aizen said, fallen into such disrepair."

"Konoha has become a place where outsiders can come and go as they please. No one dared to stop Fujiwara Aizen, the man who once annihilated the Sarutobi and Shimura clans and is considered the most notorious criminal in Konoha’s history since Madara Uchiha. Not even the so-called ‘strongest Hokage in history’ could have survived without the help of Kurenai, Aizen’s former teacher."

"Konoha has grown complacent under the peace built on the sacrifices made by Hiruzen Sarutobi. It’s a village that has lost its faith, its fire, and its people. When faced with an arrogant and powerful enemy, all they do is protest and retreat. They make a lot of noise, but nothing comes of it. It won’t be long before the village collapses."

"Even a village founded by the God of Shinobi and the Demon of the Shinobi World isn’t immune to such decline."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Heh, I’ve never been able to tolerate things that don’t move. That’s why I initiated the Konoha Crush plan—to get this stagnant windmill turning again."

"But Kabuto, you still don’t understand Aizen. Maybe his companions have left, but he’s definitely still in the village."

Kabuto was taken aback. "That’s impossible. If he wanted to stay in Konoha, why wouldn’t he just hide like you? Why go to the trouble of leaving and then coming back? Fujiwara Aizen doesn’t seem like the type who enjoys unnecessary complications."

Orochimaru laughed again. "Hehe, that’s exactly his brilliance. I’ve noticed for a long time that he’s someone who does as he pleases."

"He has no loyalty to a village, no respect for the shinobi system, and unlike Akatsuki’s leader, Pain, he has no ambition to dominate the world. The peace of the ninja world means nothing to him."

"He’s just someone who wants to be involved in any chaos he can find. He left Konoha on purpose so that everyone would think he’s gone, making them follow our plans—or rather, his script—while he watches from the sidelines, enjoying the spectacle."

"The reason he’s spared me so many times is that he finds my presence in the world entertaining."

"Today, he let that old man, the Third Hokage, live for the same reason."

"He sees the entire ninja world as part of his grand amusement, where no one, from the leader of Akatsuki to a small fry like Dosu, is beyond his detached, superior gaze."

Kabuto realized something. "No wonder he treated Naruto Uzumaki as an equal, even when everyone else saw him as a demon fox—the very creature that killed his parents."

He then asked, "So should we continue with our plan?"

"Of course," Orochimaru replied, a sinister smile spreading across his face. "But Kabuto, you seem different than before. Is this Aizen’s influence?"

Kabuto froze. Before he could respond, Orochimaru continued, "Don’t be so quick to deny it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Aizen is that kind of person."

"Because of Danzo’s persecution, you accidentally killed your foster mother, Nonō Yakushi, and lost your sense of self. Aizen saw that and gave you the recognition you were searching for."

Kabuto fell silent, removing the glasses given to him by his former mentor and falling into deep thought. "Have I truly lost myself?" he murmured.

Meanwhile, at Konoha Hospital, in a heavily guarded room, Might Guy and Rock Lee could be heard talking.

"Sorry, Lee. I’ve let you down this time," said Guy.

"No, Guy-sensei, you’re the strongest," replied Lee.

"Lee!"

"Guy-sensei!"

"This is the power of youth!"

The two embraced, crying loudly, much to the confusion of Kakashi, who was sharing the room with them. A nearby nurse, unable to tolerate the noise, gently reminded them, "Please, this is a hospital. Try not to disturb the other patients."

"Right," Might Guy responded, tears still in his eyes. "Lee, did you hear that? We can’t keep doing this or we’ll disturb others."

"Yes, Guy-sensei," Lee replied, wiping away his own tears.

Moments later, the two were crying in each other's arms again, though more quietly this time.

Watching them, the nurse sighed, turning to Kakashi. "Are they always like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Just ignore it," Kakashi replied sheepishly.

Suddenly, the door to the infirmary burst open, and Sasuke Uchiha, still wearing a hospital gown, rushed in barefoot, demanding, "Kakashi, has Fujiwara Aizen returned yet?"

*Chapter 144: Sasuke Wants to Become a Disciple*

"Hey, Kakashi, has that guy, Fujiwara Aizen, come back yet?"

Outside the medical room, there was a rush of footsteps. Sasuke, wearing hospital clothes, suddenly pushed the door open and walked in barefoot.

Naruto and Sakura followed closely behind, panting.

Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, then at Sakura, who was worriedly trailing him, and finally at Naruto, who had returned to his usual carefree self but still looked unhappy with Sasuke. Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi said, "Looks like you've already heard, huh?"

"Sasuke, the nurse said your injuries haven't healed yet. You shouldn't be moving around," Sakura said, concerned as she tried to help him, but Sasuke brushed her off.

"Go away. Don't bother me."

"Sasuke, I…" Sakura's eyes filled with tears.

"Shut up. I'm an avenger. What happens to you is your business. I don't need to play house with you. Besides, Fujiwara Aizen was right—you really are useless."

"I've been annoyed with you ever since you said Naruto had no parents and no manners. What are you, anyway? Other than crying and holding everyone back, what do you even do? Instead of wasting time on love and emotions, you'd be better off learning some new techniques to improve your strength for the Chunin Exam."

Sasuke's cold gaze bore into Sakura, his words dripping with sarcasm and impatience.

"Sasuke, I…" Sakura couldn't hold it in anymore. Covering her mouth, she ran off in tears.

"Hey, Sasuke! How could you say that!" Naruto's usual defensive side kicked in as he watched Sakura run away crying.

But before Naruto could finish his sentence, Sasuke interrupted him, smirking as he stared Naruto down. "Naruto, you're no different. I'm really looking forward to fighting you for real."

"Who’s scared of who?" Naruto shot back fearlessly, meeting Sasuke's gaze. The air between them seemed to crackle with tension.

Finally, they both snorted in unison and turned their heads away in stubborn pride.

"What a bunch of troublemakers," Kakashi muttered in resignation, taking it all in.

The nurse standing nearby nodded in agreement. "I feel the same way."

Meanwhile, Might Guy and his student, Rock Lee, had a fiery look of determination in their eyes. "This is youth!"

"Sasuke," Kakashi continued,
"is it true that Fujiwara Aizen really beat you, Might Guy, and Asuma?"

Sasuke didn't respond to Naruto but looked seriously at Kakashi instead. Internally, he couldn't even begin to describe how shocked he felt.

He knew Kakashi and Might Guy's strength well enough. Taking them down would be far too easy for them.

Originally, Sasuke had thought Aizen might be just a little stronger than Kakashi.

But to think he could actually take on a whole group of Leaf Village Jonin?

Not only that, if Kurenai hadn't arrived in time, it seemed that everyone trapped in the barrier, including the Third Hokage, wouldn't have survived.

If Aizen trained him, would he be strong enough to defeat his brother one day?

Kakashi slowly nodded and replied honestly, "Yes, that guy was like a monster. We were completely defeated. That's pretty much it."

Might Guy added, "Kakashi's right, young Uchiha. That Fujiwara boy is incredibly strong, but next time, I won't lose! That's youth! Ouch… my kidneys…"

"Might Guy, seriously! I told you not to get too emotional, or your wounds will reopen," the nurse said, exasperated, as she rushed over to tend to his injuries.

Sasuke ignored Might Guy and continued asking Kakashi, "Where is he now?"

"Give it up, Sasuke," Kakashi sighed. "I know what you're thinking, and I understand how badly you want to get stronger. But that guy has already left the village. Even if he were still here, he would never agree to train you. He's no longer a ninja of the Leaf Village, and you know that."

"Damn it," Sasuke muttered through gritted teeth, his frustration mounting. He punched the wall, furious that he had once again missed an opportunity to get stronger.

If only he had recognized that bandaged man as Aizen sooner.

Even though that guy, who liked to call him "second pillar," was annoying, his strength was undeniable.

He might even be stronger than Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin.

"Damn it!" Sasuke cursed inwardly.

Kakashi continued, "Stop dwelling on it. If you really want to get stronger, take these next few days to recover. There's still a month left until the final round of the Chunin Exam, and after that, I'll train you as hard as I can."

"Wait! Kakashi-sensei, if you're going to train Sasuke, what about me? I want to get stronger too!" Naruto, who had been sulking because of the mention of Aizen, suddenly perked up. He rushed over to Kakashi's bedside, shaking his shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei, I need you to train me too!"

"I've already made arrangements for you," Kakashi said with a smile.

"Who?" Naruto asked, confused. He glanced around the room, and his eyes landed on Might Guy. "Is it bushy-brows sensei? I wouldn't mind that, I guess. His Eight Gates technique is pretty amazing."

"Uh…" Might Guy winced. "Naruto, I'd love to help, but Aizen injured my kidneys, so it'll take some time for me to recover. I won’t be able to train you before the Chunin Exam finals."

"Then who is it?" Naruto asked, just as footsteps sounded outside the door again.

"Looks like they're here," Kakashi said, looking toward the door.

Everyone, including Sasuke, turned their attention to the approaching footsteps.

The door creaked open, and in walked Ino with her hair tied in a ponytail, carrying two bouquets of flowers.

Behind her were Shikamaru and Choji.

"Kakashi-sensei, Guy-sensei, we just visited Asuma-sensei, so we thought we'd stop by to see you too… Oh, Naruto and Sasuke are here as well! And, Lee, you're staying in the same room as them now?"

Ino greeted everyone cheerfully.

"Hey," Shikamaru mumbled lazily.

As for Choji, he was busy munching on his bag of chips.

The room suddenly fell silent. Naruto's face twisted into a look of despair, almost crying as he pointed at the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"Kakashi-sensei, these are my new teachers?"

*Chapter 145: Kakashi Playing Dumb*

“It’s not,” Kakashi shook his head.

“It’s me.” A young ninja wearing sunglasses, a headscarf, and a tight black combat outfit walked in. It was Ebisu.

Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses and waved to everyone, “Hey, folks.”

“Why does it have to be this silent perv? I wanted Kakashi-sensei to teach me. If not, I wouldn’t have bothered bringing that guy back,” Naruto complained.

Contrary to Ebisu’s expectations, Naruto’s reaction was not as big as imagined, and he didn’t even mention what happened last time with the Sexy Jutsu.

Naruto just clenched his fists, his shoulders trembling slightly. Anyone could see something was off with him.

Ebisu looked at Kakashi in surprise, “Did something happen?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Kakashi nodded, then turned his gaze to Naruto, his expression suddenly becoming serious. “Naruto, I completely understand how you feel right now. But after the Chunin Exams, I’m sure you realize that your basics are lacking, right?”

As he spoke, the image of Aizen flashed in Kakashi’s mind. “That guy… even back at the Ninja Academy, he had already mastered the basics to a level that even Jonin would find hard to reach.”

“He had just graduated from the Academy and defeated his squad leader Jonin using only the basic Clone Technique and Taijutsu. If you want to catch up to him, there’s no way you can do it without mastering your fundamentals.”

Hearing this, Naruto fell into a brief silence. After a while, he finally spoke, “I understand, Kakashi-sensei.”

He then took a deep breath and returned to his usual goofy demeanor, pointing at Ebisu and questioning, “But can this silent perv really teach me anything?”

“Silent perv? Is Ebisu-sensei really a silent perv?” Kakashi looked at Ebisu, puzzled.

Memories of his encounter with Naruto’s Sexy Jutsu resurfaced in Ebisu’s mind, causing his face to flush red. He quickly denied it, “Of course not. Don’t listen to Naruto’s nonsense.”

“Nonsense? Back then, you fell victim to my Sexy—” Before Naruto could finish, Ebisu quickly covered his mouth and whispered, “Please don’t say it out loud. I’ll buy you whatever you want to eat later.”

“Alright then, Kakashi, we’ll be on our way.”

With that, Ebisu dragged Naruto out.

“Looks like these two have known each other for a while. Naruto, do your best,” Kakashi said, watching them walk away. He sheepishly pulled out a book titled Icha Icha Paradise from under his pillow and began reading intently.

“This boring book again… Alright, I’m leaving too. Don’t forget your promise to train me,” Sasuke glanced at the book in Kakashi’s hand, waved impatiently, and left.

Suddenly, the once-crowded hospital room was only occupied by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

“Kakashi-sensei, when you mentioned ‘that guy’ earlier, you were referring to Fujiwara Aizen, weren’t you?” Shikamaru pulled up a chair and sat next to Kakashi.

“Why are you suddenly so interested in him? Is it because of Asuma?” Kakashi’s expression tightened.

“Asuma is our teacher, after all,” Shikamaru crossed his arms and nodded, not denying it.

“If that’s the case, then I think you should give up.” Kakashi sighed.

“Why?” Shikamaru asked in confusion.

“Because you’ll die,” Kakashi put away his book and said seriously, “Honestly, even if I fought him again, I don’t think I’d stand a chance. That guy isn’t someone you can deal with just by numbers. In fact, the more people there are, the faster they’ll die.”

“Moreover, if something like what happened with Naruto today happens again and angers him, I can’t guarantee what he might do.”

“Why would he do this? I remember he was once a Konoha ninja too. Could it really be because Asuma-sensei’s family is seen as parasites in Konoha?” Ino said, placing flowers by the bedsides of Kakashi and Might Guy.

“Don’t jump to conclusions. I think there’s another reason,” Kakashi recalled Aizen’s words: If Naruto knew his own heritage, and Sasuke learned the truth behind the Uchiha massacre, they’d probably do worse than I did.

Could the Uchiha massacre really be linked to Konoha’s upper echelons?

Aizen’s childhood friend was an Uchiha, who also died on the night of the massacre. Could it be that he killed the Shimura and Sarutobi clans because the Konoha higher-ups were responsible for the death of that Uchiha girl?

It’s quite possible.

After all, so far, Aizen has only killed members of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans in Konoha.

He hasn’t seriously harmed any other ninjas.

But if that’s the case, it’s a big problem.

It’s not just Aizen—even Sasuke might follow the same path as Fujiwara Aizen in the future, which is the real headache.

Ino was stunned. “What reason?”

“No, it’s nothing,” Kakashi shook his head.

“Could it be related to the Uchiha massacre?” At this moment, Shikamaru seemed to piece something together. He glanced in the direction Sasuke had gone and asked Kakashi.

“What do you know?” Kakashi squinted his eyes slightly.

“Not long ago, Choji and I found a cousin named Ponta, who once teamed up with Fujiwara Aizen. He told us some things about him,” Shikamaru didn’t continue, knowing Kakashi would understand without further explanation.

“As expected of Shikaku’s son, but being too smart isn’t always a good thing—it can get you killed,” Kakashi warned.

“I understand.” Shikamaru nodded. He knew what Kakashi meant—getting involved with Konoha’s high-level secrets could be deadly.

As they spoke, Ino looked confused, “What are you guys talking about?”

“It’s nothing. Ino, it’s about time we head back,” Shikamaru said, pulling Ino along.

Choji, pretending to understand, nodded at Kakashi before following them.

“Will it get you killed? Looks like Kakashi knows more than he lets on—he’s just been playing dumb all along.”

“And Sasuke, he actually wanted me as his teacher? As if I’d be dumb enough to take a student in a world where betraying your teacher is so common.”

“He’d be better off learning from Orochimaru.”

“But Orochimaru does know me well. He knew I’d enjoy getting involved in things.”

In an open-air mixed bath, Aizen soaked in the hot spring, listening to the sounds of Konoha using his heightened senses while enjoying Pakura’s massage.

Pakura’s care-taking skills were improving greatly.

Out on the road, Pakura managed nearly everything in Aizen’s life.

To the point where Aizen was almost unable to live without her.